Economists may posit all sorts of estimates about how the "fiscal cliff" will affect consumer spending, but one outfit that has its finger on the pulse of remodeling-minded homeowners found that a big cross-section of them have already postponed plans to renovate.

A survey conducted last month by Houzz.com, a leading online home remodeling and design site that has 10 million unique monthly users, found that a full 38% of respondents had shelved plans to fix up their homes until they see how Washington addresses the tax increases and budget cuts that will automatically take effect Jan. 1 if no action is taken.

Shelved: Some 38% of users of a popular remodeling Website say they've shelved fix-up plans because of the fiscal cliff.
William Waitzman for Barron's

On the other hand, 40% of the 1,149 people who responded said they planned to go "full steam ahead" with their housing makeovers; 22% said they were making some adjustments but still moving forward.

That may be because many of the Mr. and Mrs. Fixits (Houzz.com's users' average age is 48, average household income is $125,000) have put cash aside to redo their kitchens or bathrooms, an earlier survey found. "They are giving up vacations or not replacing a car before they'll take a home-equity loan," says Houzz CEO Adi Tatarko. Hear that, Washington?

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Monday 17

UBScould announce as early as today a $1 billion settlement in the Libor case.